1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a front structure of a vehicle such as an automobile, and particularly to a front structure which, when colliding with a leg of a pedestrian, can receive a load at a position lower than the end position of an energy absorbing bracket before the collision.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bumper provided at the front end of a vehicle includes a bumper face and an energy absorbing (EA) member which has an energy absorbing effect, and is configured to receive a compressive load internally from a bumper face in a collision with a pedestrian and to transmit the compressive load to the main body of the vehicle. The bumper face is part of the exterior of the vehicle and a design component.
The related art of such a bumper structure for vehicles includes, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-265399 which describes that an energy absorbing bracket is disposed inside of a lower portion (air dam) of a bumper face, the energy absorbing bracket in which a plurality of front-rear direction ribs and vehicle width direction ribs are suspended downward from a horizontally disposed upper surface.
It is known at a collision with a pedestrian's leg, an impact to the knees of the pedestrian and the degree of damage to the pedestrian can be reduced by lowering the height of a position at which a collision load is received by the pedestrian and allowing the pedestrian's leg to be hit upward. However, the height of the air dam provided at the lower end of the bumper face may not necessarily be adjusted to a height suitable for protecting the pedestrian's leg because of restrictions on the height of the vehicle from the ground and vehicle design, and thus a vehicle front structure capable of receiving a load at a lower position has been demanded.